Vertical has released the first teaser trailer for We Bury the Dead, a tense, zombie survival shocker written and directed by Zak Hilditch (Rattlesnake, 1922). The film stars Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Cleaner), Brenton Thwaites (Oculus, “Titans”), Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin), and Matt Whelan (“Narcos”).
Set against the backdrop of a catastrophic military disaster, We Bury the Dead reimagines the zombie subgenre with a chilling twist: the dead don’t simply rise — they hunt. The military maintains that the undead are harmless and slow-moving, offering a fragile hope to grieving families. But when Ava (Ridley) ventures into a quarantined zone to search for her missing husband, she uncovers a horrifying truth: the creatures are growing faster, more violent, and increasingly relentless with every passing hour.
The film premiered in March 2025 at South by Southwest, where early reactions underscored its inventive approach to the zombie genre. Variety stressed how it “approaches the well-worn subgenre with brand-new spins,” creating “haunting scenes that open a cinematic window into the darkest, most mysterious parts of the human condition,” while IndieWire noted that, despite its focus on “stinking, bloated corpses,” the film feels surprisingly fresh, bringing unexpected energy and originality to familiar horror territory.
The film is produced by Kelvin Munro, Grant Sputore, Ross M. Dinerstein, Joshua Harris, and Mark Fasano.
We Bury the Dead will start hunting its way into theaters nationwide on January 2, 2026.
